1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to photographic printmakers, and in particular, to a novel apparatus for making prints from transparencies, commonly referred to as slides, by the use of self-developing films.
2. Description of Prior Art
Today, with the expanding use of 35-mm cameras, reaching a mass-audience not familiar with or willing to be familiar with old-fashioned darkroom techniques, there is an evergorwing need for extremely simple to operate devices for making prints in standard enlarged formats from slides. Often during a slideshow (private or public), someone in the audience (family, friends or general public) would like a print of a particular slide shown, or the amateur-photographer himself would like some simple prints of his own slides to put into his printbook and would like these prints instantly and simply produced without fuss and without the need for taking the slides to be processed by ordinary professional or commercial firms.
There are known in the prior art a number of photographic printing devices, but none totally fulfills the requirements of utmost simplicity of operation in the conversion of slides or transparencies to prints in standard sizes. Among the more recent patents is U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,651, which incorporates the simplifying element of self-developing film but applies it to providing a print from another photographic print, i.e. a print to print conversion. Also known is the transparency copying attachment of U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,148, which attaches to an already existing camera and basically converts one transparency to another transparency, i.e. a slide to slide conversion. Finally, there is the transportable photographic enlarger of U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,636, but as the name implies, the device uses conventional techniques such as lightbulbs and photographic paper, and ultimately requires access to conventional darkroom facilities.
There is therefore a great need in the photographic art for a slide printmaker, which is compact, operable independent of darkroom equipment, easy to operate by a person of minimum skill or training, and which delivers the print instantly.